Tag: Legal Entrepreneurs
LexpertEase: Nepal’s first and only legal tech platform: An interview with Founder Kailash Panday
LexpertEase is Nepal’s first and only legal tech platform. In this interview with Asia Law Portal, LexpertaEase Founder Kailash Panday explains the firm’s focus and what inspired its’ founding, how technology is impacting Nepal’s legal market, LexpertEase’s local and international services offer and its’ goals for […]
How Reed Smith is globalizing innovation initiatives. An interview with Adam Curphey
Global law firm Reed Smith recently appointed Adam Curphey as Innovation Engagement Manager. Curphey’s focus is working “with the firm’s lawyers, Practice Innovation and IT development teams to implement ideas to drive internal efficiencies, as well as identify collaboration opportunities with Reed Smith’s clients to deliver […]
Private equity invests in NewLaw firm Axiom: Commentary from Axiom’s CEO and APAC-region legal industry leaders
Axiom Law, one of NewLaw’s pioneering companies, both internationally and in Asia, has announced a new private equity investment from Permira, a major investor in LegalZoom. The new investment comes after a recent planned initial public offering (IPO) was cancelled. As Thomas Allen details in Legal […]
Funding boost and award win for Australian legal tech company
Brisbane-based legal technology company Lawcadia announces that it has recently raised $1.3 million in a pre-Series A round from a number of private investors and Artesian, a leading Australian alternative investments and venture capital firm.
New legal tech company CodeLex aims to streamline the practice of law
Legal technology company CodeLex is a developer of legaltech projects as part of the Irbis Ventures (formerly ‘M Lab’) ecosystem. Incorporated in Mongolia and Singapore, and with a core team based in Ulaanbaatar, Singapore and Tokyo, CodeLex projects aim to streamline and add value to the […]
Time to embrace co-working
What are the key ingredients for a great co-working space? Trendy, young hipsters making steaming coffee with cacti and succulents abound, prosecco on tap and Scandi style interior design? Maybe, yet these spaces can benefit all types of workers with a creative and comfortable place to […]
Helping law firms create intuitive knowledge platforms: The story of Singapore’s INTELLLEX
INTELLLEX was founded in 2015 in Singapore with the aim of helping law firms create intuitive knowledge platforms. In this interview with Asia Law Portal, INTELLLEX Co-Founder and Chief Business Development Officer Ellery Sutanto explains how the company began, it’s vision for the future of legal […]
View your sabbatical as a career booster and not a career break
It can be a scary prospect – the thought of stepping away from your deskbound duties and taking a sabbatical. You may question what your colleagues or management think or fear about this break in proceedings and how this will impact your career development. But having […]
The Business of Law in India in 2019: Marketing, Innovation, Technology and Market Liberalization. An interview with Aman Abbas of Commwiser
Aman Abbas is Co-Founder & CEO, Commwiser, a Delhi-based consultancy focused on public relations and law firm marketing. His two decades of experience in public relations and communications in professional services includes work with Amarchand Mangaldas, India’s largest Law firm and Big4 acccounting firm KPMG, as […]
Competitive Threats & Opportunities for Law Firms – Innovim Group Analysis
Australia-based John Chisholm is a widely recognized strategic advisor to law firms on pricing and strategy – based on his decades of experience as managing partner for both law and accounting firms. A Fellow of the College of Law Practice Management and a Distinguished Fellow of the […]
Asia’s changing legal market and the strategies to adapt: An interview with Eric Chin of Alpha Creates
Asia’s legal market is changing and who better to know what strategies firms might deploy to adapt to these changes than Melbourne-based Eric Chin, who helped co-found Alpha Creates in January of 2019. A long-time strategic advisor to the legal services sector, Eric also coined the […]
Interview with New Law pioneer Kirsty Dougan, Vario’s Asia MD
Dougan is NewLaw’s pioneer in Asia Kirsty Dougan co-founded NewLaw in Asia in late 2009 and last month, after almost a decade in the sector, she joined Pinsent Masons flexible NewLaw unit Vario as Managing Director for Asia. Dougan will be based in a new office […]
Book Review: “SMARTER Law: Transforming busy lawyers into business leaders” – by Trevor Faure
“I cannot say this too strongly: Do not compare yourself to others. Be true to who you are, and continue to learn with all your might.” Daisaku Ikeda, Buddhist Philosopher, as quoted by Trevor Faure. Trevor Faure, self-defined as ‘part-translator-part-interlocutor’ between the legal and performance improvement […]
Assegaf Hamzah & Partners Participated in the Pre-Series A Funding of Justika.com
Assegaf Hamzah & Partners (AHP), one of the biggest law firms in Indonesia, recently participated in the Pre-Series A funding of Justika.com (Justika), the pioneer of legal services marketplace start-up in Indonesia. AHP’s Managing Partner, Bono Daru Adji, remarked that AHP’s participation in Justika is part […]
The legal gig economy – what’s next?
In just three taps of your finger you could have a curry or burger winging its way to your home. With the rise of technology and the growing desire for ultimate convenience, it is no surprise that food delivery companies like Uber Eats and Deliveroo have […]
Opportunities for law firms in the ASEAN region. An interview with Laurent Tam NGUYEN
Vietnam-based Laurent Tam NGUYEN has more than twenty-five years’ experience leading marketing and business development operations in b2b professional services, e-business and commercial property. His experience includes heading regional communications and marketing initiatives for leading ASEAN-region legal services organizations including ZICO Group and DFDL. In addition, he is […]
APAC regional legal tech conference LexTech launches AI assistant
APAC regional legal technology conference LexTech has launched an AI assistant to help facilitate a better conference experience, making its services available through Facebook Messenger — a first in the local legal tech industry. Called, LEXi, the Artificial Intelligence chatbot was developed by Malaysia’s CanChat and will focus on addressing enquiries […]
How has NewLaw developed in Asia over the last 10 years? An interview with Oliver Mould of LOD – Lawyers On Demand
As NewLaw firm LOD – Lawyers on Demand (LOD) approaches its’ 10th anniversary, Asia Law Portal interviewed Oliver Mould, the firm’s Head of Asia about the state of NewLaw in Asia and what he sees ahead for the next 10 years: LOD is approaching its 10th […]
Driving innovation in the legal industry
Introduction Emerging technologies are creating significant waves of disruption impacting economies, industries and societies across the globe. Companies are struggling to keep pace with technological developments, whether maintaining agile business environments to leverage advanced technologies or creating the right risk and compliance strategies to plan and […]
Reed Smith and Resource Law Managing Partners explain the strategy behind their Singapore alliance
Reed Smith formed an alliance with Singapore’s Resource Law in 2016 to strengthen its local expertise and client offering of a one-stop-shop service, and to help it stand out amid a highly competitive environment for both international and local firms in Singapore. The alliance has also […]
How the GC can move beyond relationships to a more strategic selection of outside counsel
As the legal industry evolves, in-house teams are under increasing pressure to demonstrate a commitment to innovation and transformation. However, as legal departments accept and even embrace the need for change, one element stubbornly resists transformation. Despite the growing availability of digital technology designed to assist […]
Today’s Lawyers Need Technology Training
Introduction Back in November, a group of people gathered in Hong Kong to brainstorm on using blockchain technology in legal transactions. They discussed Ethereum and cybersecurity, before debating the benefits and dangers of Artificial Intelligence (AI). These weren’t computer programmers looking to create a new start-up […]
NewLaw firm Vario to expand into Singapore
Pinsent Masons will launch its NewLaw flexible consulting service, Vario, in Singapore in mid-2018. Vario was first established in the Asia-Pacific region in Australia in July 2017. The firm reports it is witnessing increased client demand for its flexible lawyer solution globally, including in Asia. In […]
NewLaw expands in Asia with the addition of Cognatio Law in Hong Kong
NewLaw industry veteran Lesley Hobbs announced in February the launch of her own firm Cognatio Law to “satisfy the growing demand within Hong Kong’s legal market for flexible and cost-effective legal services [for large and small companies]. ” As the firm details in a press release: […]
Singapore’s Maxwell Chambers becomes the world’s first smart hearing facility
Maxwell Chambers recently announced that it is set to become the world’s first smart hearing facility by the end of 2018, in a bid backed by the Ministry of Law to boost Singapore’s position as an international dispute resolution hub. In this Q&A interview with Asia […]
Big4 vs BigLaw in Asia: What makes Deloitte Legal unique?
Competition in legal services in Asia is acute. Among the competitive pressures traditional law firms face in Asia is the drive by Big4 accounting firms to gain legal market share. In this Q&A interview, Asia Law Portal asks Mark Schroeder, Senior Legal Consultant with 勤理 China […]
Stefanie Yuen Thio of Singapore’s TSMP Law explains how to build a successful boutique legal practice
Stefanie Yuen Thio is the Joint Managing Director of TSMP Law Corporation in Singapore, leads the firm’s M&A and corporate practice and co-manages the firm. TSMP is regarded as one of Singapore’s handful of “go-to” independent firms for cutting-edge Wall Street work and was named SE […]
Innovating in-house legal in Asia Pacific
In this interview with Asia Law Portal, Peter Connor details his views of how legal services competition is impacting the general counsel, both within and outside the Asia-Pacific region
5 Ways Big Data is Changing Legal Practice
Innovation buzz words like “analytics” “AI” and “big data” have been getting a lot of coverage recently, but how are they affecting the bottom line for law firms? Read More: India’s All-round Improvement & Crowning Glory Below are 5 ways that big data can build law firm […]
Contract lawyering – the global gig economy for lawyers
Transport for London’s recent decision to revoke Uber’s licence meant the gig economy was back in the headlines, and not for positive reasons. Indeed, some business’ abuse of employment rights under the guise of the gig economy has meant that for some, this term has become […]
An Entity-Driven Approach to Legal Services
A crowded legal marketplace requires law firms to do more than just provide quality legal services
What is Driving Change in Asia’s Legal Profession?
The famous American jurist Clarence Darrow once said, “The trouble with law is lawyers.” And, when it comes to changing the way lawyers and law firms operate, some of the speakers and panellists at the Legal Inno’ Tech Forum, which took place in Hong Kong in […]
NewLaw shows progress in Association of Corporate Counsel Australia 2017 Benchmarks and Leading Practices Report
The Association of Corporate Counsel Australia recently launched the 2017 Benchmarks and Leading Practices Report, an in-depth and extensive study of trends in the Australian and New Zealand (ANZ) in-house legal profession. The report also features 13 general counsels as best practice case studies and 4 […]
Facilitating cross-border trade and investment in the Asia-Pacific: An interview with Babita Ambekar
Babita Ambekar is Head of Duane Morris & Selvam’s India and Japan Practice Groups. She advises multinationals on transactions involving India, Indian companies on their global expansion, in Singapore and abroad. She regularly advises Japanese companies on regional and international matters and is actively involved in the […]
How legal startup CanLaw is helping the Malaysian public find lawyers
Founded in 2016, Malaysian legal startup CanLaw was established as “a FREE service that makes finding the right lawyer a quick walk in the park”, as the company website details. As part of Asia Law Portal’s continuing coverage of the Asia-Pacific region’s legal startup ecosystem — […]
Legal Startup ai.Law set to deploy “an army of robotic lawyers” in China
Beijing-based legal startup ai. Law was established on China’s Youth Day, May 4, 2016. To date — the new company has completed its angel round of investment. Ms Kathy Gong Xiaosi, the Founder & CEO of ai. Law is a serial entrepreneur who was also once […]
LOD: Changing NewLaw dynamics in Asia
In the first multi-continent merger of its kind, NewLaw leading firms LOD – Lawyers on Demand and AdventBalance joined together in October 2016 under the joint name and brand LOD – Lawyers on Demand. As LOD – Lawyers on Demand detailed at the time, “the deal…saw the […]
GRMSearch Q&A: Legal Recruitment Market in Asia
GRM was recently named the Best Legal Recruitment Agency of the Year in Hong Kong. What did the awarding agency see in GRM as a unique competitive advantage? (Rob Green, CEO, GRMSearch) We actually retained the title! 2015 and now 2016 saw GRM crowned Best Legal […]
Meisterline launched in Hong Kong: Seeks to “decode how legal experts think”
Hong Kong-based Dr Peter Macmillan is the Founder & CEO of Meisterline Analytics, developer of the Meisterline Index™, a unique, science-based lawyer rating service that uses cognitive analysis to measure the expertise of legal specialists. He recently founded Mesterline with an aim to decode (and measure) […]
SingaporeLegalAdvice.com: A one-stop platform for lawyers and legal consumers
The Asia-Pacific region has seen much legal innovation in recent years. And Singapore has been among the leading jurisdictions providing a venue for this innovation. One of those legal entrepreneurs is Yuk Lun Chan, Founder of SingaporeLegalAdvice.com. Here’s our recent Q&A interview with him about what […]
Mills Oakley launches Asia-Pacific’s first legal startup accelerator
In a move that highlights the rapid expansion of the legal startup ecosystem in Asia-Pacific, Australia’s Mills Oakley has launched the region’s first legal startup accelerator. Central to this effort is Mills Oakley’s CEO John Nerurker. In our continuing coverage of the region’s legal startup scene – […]
Legal startup legistify seeks to make the law accessible in India
India’s legal market represents an enormous opportunity for legal startup entrepreneurs. With a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of 1.877 trillion USD (2013), it ranks as “the seventh-largest economy in the world measured by nominal GDP and the third-largest by purchasing power parity.” As in other economies in […]
The story of lexvoco: New Zealand’s first NewLaw firm
As Dr George Beaton of Australia’s Beaton Capital detailed recently: “lexvoco is the first NewLaw firm in New Zealand, entering by crossing the Tasman. While this might not necessarily be regarded as noteworthy, the speed with which lexvoco is spreading is truly remarkable.” In an effort to continue Asia […]
Australian Legal Startup Jurimetrics brings statistical big-data analysis to the legal system
Australia is among the leading jurisdictions in the Asia-Pacific region. In the cultivation of startups focused on the legal services space. And recently, a new Australian startup called Jurimetrics is bringing statistical big data to the legal system. Here’s our recent interview with Managing Director Conrad […]
What are the prospects for legal startups in Japan? An interview with Tim Romero, author of DisruptingJapan.com
Tim Romero is a Tokyo-based innovator, author, and entrepreneur. He’s started several companies since coming to Japan more than 20 years ago — and he’s deeply involved in Japan’s startup community as an investor, founder and mentor. He is the author of the widely-read blog DisruptingJapan.com […]
NewLaw expands in Asia with the addition of Hong Kong’s Korum Legal
As Australian legal commentator and analyst Eric Chin recently detailed, NewLaw in the Asia-Pacific is growing and its’ definition expanding to include alternative business models utilizing technology as a prime focus – above and beyond the traditional NewLaw secondment offer. Too, a number of large international […]
FlySpaces offers lawyers flexible office solutions in the Asia-Pacific region
As the legal services sector continues to grow in the Asia-Pacific region, opportunities for lawyers to create their own career path by working in NewLaw or in flexible working arrangement with traditional law firms – is also increasing. An important part of these changes includes opportunities […]
Australian legal startup Lawcadia: A new way to find, engage and manage law firms
Australian legal startup Lawcadia provides clients with a “new way to find, engage and manage law firms”, as its’ CEO & Founder Warwick Walsh explains in this new interview: What is Lawcadia and what inspired its founding? Lawcadia is a new way to find, engage and […]
Australian legal startup Bulletpoints disrupts legal education by centralising CPD in one online portal
The Asia-Pacific region legal startup ecosystem is rich with examples of entrepreneurial zeal applied to the legal services sector — with a number based in Australia — including LawPath, LegalVision and Crowd & Co. That ecosystem also includes Bulletpoints — an online service for legal professionals to […]
Asia-Pacific Legal Startups: An interview with BurgieLaw.com Founder & CEO, Lai Chee Hoe
The Asia-Pacific legal startup ecosystem is growing rapidly. And Asia Law Portal has and will continue to seek to provide a window into this ecosystem by interviewing the founders and entrepreneurs behind this exciting trend. In the most recent chapter of this effort, we interview Mr […]
Australian legal startup Crowd & Co is creating an online market for corporate legal services
Australia-based legal startup Crowd & Co, launched on 30 November 2015, is aiming to help corporations and lawyers alike efficiently source help on transactions via a proprietary online matchmaking platform. Inspired by the engineering sector Similar to American middle-market focused deal sourcing platform Axial, Crowd & […]
Interview with CEO of AsiaLawNetwork: Asia-Pacific Legal Startups
The Asia-Pacific Region holds an ideal mix of opportunity and innovation for legal services providers. In 2016, the Asia-Pacific legal market is now home to a growing number of legal startups and the entrepreneurs leading them, including Dragon Law, LawPath, LegalVision, Conventus Law and AsiaLawNetwork.com. The region is […]
What opportunity do law firm mergers in Asia create for foreign law firms?
Local law firms in China remain the most attractive merger partners in Asia for foreign law firms, according to Hong Kong-based Ben Cooper, Managing Director, GRMExecutive. Cooper outlines the reasons why these mergers remain so attractive in this interview: What opportunity do law firm mergers in Asia create […]
How social media is helping Malaysia legal career website Office Parrots achieve success
From traditional law firms to NewLaw firms, legal startups to legal recruiters, a wide variety of legal services sector organizations are utilizing social media as a means to increase visibility and attract new clients. In legal recruitment in the Asia-Pacific region in particular, Major Lindsey & […]
The Malaysian Lawyer.com is launched: An interview with co-founder Marcus van Geyzel
As Office Parrots blog outlined last month, two “seasoned Malaysian legal professionals with more than ten years’ experience [recently came] together to launch TheMalaysianLawyer.com. Founded by Lee Shih, Partner with Skrine, and Marcus van Geyzel, Partner with Peter Ling & van Geyzel, who’s also founder of the widely-read Malaysian law blog LoyarBurok.com , […]
From Lawyers to Malaysia startup entrepreneurs: An interview with the founders of Kaodim.com
Jeff Cheong and Fui Choong both left their careers as lawyers to launch Kaodim in November 2014. Malaysia-based Kaodim is a web/mobile application allowing people to hire and compare professionals providing home services and repairs. The platform grows many small and medium businesses along the way. Kaodim is […]
Facilitating investment in Japan – an interview with Tokyo-based lawyer Hiroaki Tsuda
As the Japan Times reported last year, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s administration developed an updated growth strategy calling for a doubling of the “outstanding amount of foreign direct investment in Japan to ¥35 trillion by 2020, with the government taking necessary policy steps and the […]
Tokyo Legal Startups find support and inspiration from “StartEd”
As Disrupting Japan blog author Tim Romero has outlined: “The startup scene in Japan is laying the seeds for [the country’s] next economic miracle.” And a part of that miracle may very well be Tokyo-based legal startups. Few would know more about this subject than Dublin-based lawyer Naoise Gaffney. […]
Axiom Asia: Transforming the Business of Law in Asia
In September of 2013, Eric Chin of Australia’s Beaton Capital explained why by 2018 — Axiom may become the world’s largest legal services firm. Founded in 2000, Axiom is among a new breed of private equity-backed alternative providers of legal services commonly referred to as “NewLaw”. These “NewLaw” firms […]
Facilitating China-Canada cross-border investment: A Q&A with Stephen D. Wortley of McMillan
Think Asia, Think Hong Kong, a conference focused on facilitating trade and investment with China via Hong Kong, took place in Toronto June 8. Key among the participants was Stephen D. Wortley, Chair, Hong Kong Office and Co-Chair, China Practice Group at McMillan LLP. In conjunction […]
From lawyer to Tokyo startup entrepreneur: An interview with Nikola Pavesic of Justa
Elise Hu (@elisewho), reporting for NPR earlier this month, outlined how the startup scene in Japan is now beginning to gain momentum in an economy still centered around traditional companies that made it big in the latter part of the last century. The Japanese government, however, […]
The Current State of the Malaysian Legal Market: A Q&A with Eddie Law, Founder of eLawyer.com.my
The Malaysian legal market is currently undergoing structural reform while competition is increasing. Here’s an update on the market in the second quarter of 2015 from Eddie Law, Founder of eLawyer.com.my: How would you describe the overall current state of the Malaysian legal market? In general, […]
Asia-Pacific Region Legal Startups: An interview with LawPath Co-Founder Damien Andreasen
As Angus Kidman (@gusworldau) outlined in a 2013 profile in Australia’s Lifehacker, “LawPath is Australia’s largest and fastest-growing legal platform…connect[ing] people and businesses that are in need of legal assistance to the right lawyer who specialises in their area of need.” LawPath (@LawPath) is among a […]
Hong Kong Legal Startup: A Q&A with Chris Sykes, Client Services Director, Dragon Law
As Iris Leung (@irismtleung), Editor at StartupsHK and Contributor at Forbes Asia wrote just last week: “The limelight has long been shed on Hong Kong legal startup-friendly destination. Besides efficient business setup, a robust legal system, an easygoing regulatory environment and a simple tax system – one […]
Wolters Kluwer Hong Kong: Making law readily accessible on one online platform with PrimeLaw
The idea that “The law should be readily accessible” lies “at the heart of the development” of PrimeLaw — Wolters Kluwer Hong Kong’s major product in the making for the past year — according to Chloe Lau, Head of Publishing and Product Development for the company. […]
Hong Kong-based Custom Legal seeks to make legal services accessible to all people
Earlier this year, Janice Chew co-founded Custom Legal Solutions with a firm belief in universal access to professional services. Malaysian by nationality, she was admitted to the High Court of Hong Kong as a Solicitor as well as the High Court of Malaya as Advocate and […]
Hong Kong-based LawTranslate eyes the global legal translation market: A Q&A with Founder and Director Barry Wong
Recently Asia Law Portal had the opportunity to sit down with Barry Wong, Founder and Director of Hong Kong-based LawTranslate (@lawtranslatecom). It was to discuss the company, its core services offer, and plans for the future. LawTranslate focuses on translation services to the legal services sector […]
NewLaw in Asia: The rise of AdventBalance
As prominent strategists in the legal services sector have outlined, the “NewLaw” business model is in increasing ascendance globally. And it is in use in greater frequency among legal services companies (including — but not limited to — law firms in Asia) seeking to provide lower […]
Conventus Law forges a new path for lawyers to engage online in the Asia-Pacific Region
The digital economy in the Asia-Pacific market and its intersection with law firms in Asia and legal services in the region are one highlight of a new book by this author which provides “A Comprehensive Guide to the Asia-Pacific Legal Markets“. Integral to the the book […]
Hong Kong, China gateway: An interview with Deacons Executive Partner, Jeremy Lam
Hong Kong is both a gateway into China, but also as a conduit for Chinese outbound foreign investment. As the China Daily reported recently, echoing a sentiment expressed earlier this year by Deacons Executive Partner Jeremy Lam in an interview in BusinessWeek. During the first half of […]